Visit the Philippines Year

For the first time, the World Tourism Organization proclaimed the Year 2003 as Visit Philippines Year. Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon wisely decided to make Intramuros the focal center of that year-long celebration. Eighty-five percent of all tourists pass through Manila and Intramuros is the most logical place for any tourist to begin his visit. But this year, the visiting tourist will not only see Intramuros. Secretary Gordon has prepared a year-long program of shows and exhibits that will be held in different parts of Intramuros. In short, Intramuros will be the showcase of Philippine art and culture for this whole year. All regions and provinces will have the opportunity to showcase their best traditions before an international audience. This February it is the Southern Tagalog month – Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Marinduque, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Quezon, Rizal and Romblon.

The walls of Intramuros, the San Agustin Church and the Manila Cathedral definitely give a good architectural image of the past. The ruins of Intramuros remain, but now it has been rehabilitated to the extent where one can go full circle atop the Intramuros walls and see not only the room where Rizal spent his last moments, but also the Baluarte de Santa Barbara, the Puerta and Ravelin del Parian, the Puerto Real and Ravelin de Real Gardens.

If you look outside the immured city when you are walking on top of the walls what you see are either the Pasig River and the Manila golf course. In the walled city itself, the Intramuros Administration constructed the Casa Manila in 1979. The Casa Manila is a structure copied from a house in Calle Jaboneros in San Nicolas. The ground floor is occupied by shops that sell antiques, art objects and souvenirs of the past. On the second and third floors you find a typical home of the Spanish period which would remind one of the house of Don Lorenzo El Magnifico, the main character in Nick Joaquin's story that ends with the last procession of the Naval de Manila.

It is too bad that Intramuros does not have a theater for tourists. Intramuros would be the perfect place to stage Nick Joaquin's A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino. The play starts with the role Intramuros played in our history.

And definitely, Nick Joaquin's The Mass of St. Sylvestre should be the focal point on any New Year activity in Intramuros. In fact, it does for the Philippine New Year what Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol did for the British Christmas.

What we are really saying is that the activities in Intramuros should not end with Visit Philippines Year. It should continue with more emphasis on Intramuros itself.